1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to skirted style and conventional style spinning reels and more particularly to a spool mounted drag system for a spinning reel.
2. Background of the Prior Art
It is well known in the prior art to utilize a drag mechanism mounted either in the hub of the spool, in the rear of the body of the reel or in contact with the front surface of the spool. The most common drag mechanism is mounted in the hub of the spool wherein the drag friction elements in the hub are limited by the diameter and length of the hub so that the resulting drag mechanism is limited in performance even with ideally selected materials and component configuration. The rear mounted drag mechanisms are mounted in the body of the reel at the end of the reel opposite to the spool. The normal cosmetics and reel size provides restrictive boundries that limits the drag performance especially in drag adjustment range and sensitivity. The third common form of drag mechanism is where a large disc of friction material is in contact with the front surface of the spool. Once again, space restrictions (due to aesthetics) limits the friction element to a single member which is retained by the drag adjustment knob. All three forms of drag mechanisms provide for rotation of a threaded element to increase or decrease pressure loading on the friction surfaces to change the drag resistance to rotation.